Vowing to protect the right to vote for military personnel overseas, Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder Gilbert Ortiz announced Wednesday that he is joining the lawsuit between Secretary of State Scott Gessler and Denver Clerk and Recorder Debra Johnson.

Last week, Gessler, a Republican, sent a letter warning Ortiz that if he mailed ballots to inactive voters who are eligible to vote, he would be named in the lawsuit by Gessler’s office. Ortiz and Johnson are Democrats.

At the time, Ortiz said he would “reluctantly” comply with Gessler’s order not to mail ballots to 64 inactive military voters but indicated that the dispute of whether inactive voters should receive mail ballots was not over.

“The very least we can do for the men and women protecting our democracy overseas is ensure that if they are registered to vote, they have every opportunity to participate in our elections,” Ortiz said in a news release.

In September, Gessler sued Denver’s clerk and recorder, saying the law is clear that Denver cannot send ballots to inactive voters as it planned.

The lawsuit stated Gessler was challenging Denver to “ensure the uniformity of election processes throughout the state and to reduce the potential for fraud.”

A court hearing on the lawsuit is set for Friday.

“Ortiz is clearly fanning the political flames and covering up his own problems,” Gessler said, saying the clerk was behind schedule in notifying the overseas service members.

“He should understand that the legislature makes the law, and I merely enforce it.”

A native of Colorado, Kurtis Lee was a politics reporter for The Denver Post from February 2011 until July 2014. He graduated cum laude from Temple University in 2009 with a degree in journalism and political science. He previously worked as an online writer in Washington, D.C., for the PBS NewsHour.

Casting aside rare censure from Republican lawmakers, President Donald Trump aimed new blasts of invective at the late John McCain , even claiming credit for the senator’s moving Washington funeral and complaining he was never properly thanked.

No one would ever question Dave Danielson’s credentials as a Republican. As a 17-year-old in his home state of New Hampshire, he led a local group of teenage Barry Goldwater supporters in 1964 and went on to vote for every Republican presidential candidate since.